What states recognize premarital agreements?
In Texas premarital agreements are valid contractual agreements that allow prospective spouses to amend the “default” marital property rules, but premarital agreements are not recognized by all US states. This is an important factor to consider in today’s mobile society.
At the time this post was written, 27 states recognize pre-marital agreements in some form. The states include:
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In 2008, states considering recognition of premarital agreements include Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina and West Virginia.
For more information on the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act, visit http://nccusl.org/Update/uniformact_factsheets/uniformacts-fs-upaa.asp
Although it has not enacted the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act as the other states listed in this post, Georgia law also recognizes the validity of prenuptial agreements and has since 1982 in the case of Scherer v. Scherer, a decision in which the Supreme Court first set forth a three-pronged test for determining the enforceability of such agreements: (1) whether theagreement was obtained through fraud, duress or mistake, or through misrepresentation or nondisclosure of material facts; (2)whether the agreement is unconscionable; and (3) whether the factsand circumstances have changed since the agreement was executed,so as to make its enforcement unfair and unreasonable. For more information on prenuptial and postnuptial agreements in Georgia, please see http://gafamilylawblog.com and in particular, see http://www.gafamilylawblog.com/prenuptial_agreements/index.html and http://www.gafamilylawblog.com/postnuptial_agreements/index.html.